>>Have you guys that collect much pollen from your hives ever
considered what the consequences are for the colonies when they are
deprived of the pollen for longer periods?
In my neck of the woods, with 3 deep nests, about 1/2 - 3/4 of the
frames in the bottom deep is fully plugged up with pollen by the end
of May. With strong nectar flows in June, only 1 in a 100 bees may
be coming back with some pollen. You'd think they were not raising
brood but it's just the opposite! Brood rearing is peaking. They
simply have sufficient pollen stores.
I set up my trap at the end of July. The trap collects about 40% of
the pollen coming in. The bees are not deprived of pollen. Not all
is taken from the bees - it's the same as taking surplus honey from
the bees.
Unless there's a drought situation, there is always plenty of pollen
for the bees to collect around here.
The only thing I wonder about is the trap's effect of nectar
collection. I put the trap on my strongest colony. It seems this
colony has collected less nectar than its neighbors since I put on
the trap. This may be an anomaly. I don't have my hives on scales
to tell for sure. My observation is based on looking at the frames
in the supers.
Waldemar
Long Island, NY
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